Yeah, stop sassing the priest, you little brat.

[benchilada]

Didn't I promise you that we would return to The Land of the Mo-Lan Devils?

Part Two Begins...Now!

            Fifty years have passed since Mok Leung and his men disappeared on their quest for the Mo-Lan Devils. Men have been born, men have loved, men have died. Guan Lau Ching has only done one of those. He has not even been a fighter for long enough to have earned a nickname, such as ‘Iron Umbrella,’ or ‘Bloody Scholar,’ or even the ubiquitous ‘Fearless.’

            Lau was not happy about this.

            Indeed, when he sought to go with Hairless Priest Kam on an expedition to the Fog Plateau, he was brazen enough to ask if Hairless could keep an eye out for any feats that Lau might perform while there that would be suitable for a name preface.

            “Feats?” smiled Hairless, stroking the smooth skin where most Taoist priests had ridiculous eyebrows, “One does not earn a nickname through ‘feats,’ and one certainly does not seek a name to be known throughout the martial world.”

            “I know that, Sifu, I’m just saying—”

            “Would you like me to find a short way of telling people that you are Constantly Reaching Yet Never Attaining His Goals Lau?” the priest asked, his smile widening.

            “No, Sifu.” answered Lau, looking down at his feet and making a half-circle in the dirt with his toes..

            “Now, tell me again why I should even consider taking you to the Fog Plateau with me.”

            “The villagers all say that every few months you go there to dine with Third Uncle Li, the Lord of Spirits, to convince him not to come down from the mountain and feast upon our very souls and fill the rivers with our blood. I thought perhaps…I could… cook the meal or something.”  

            The laugh of a Taoist priest is always unique, and Hairless was no exception to this rule. Instead of the curt, vaguely maniacal laugh of so many, though, his was like somebody had stuck a very tiny flute in the back of his throat and amplified it several times over.

            “Eeeeeee-heeeeeeee-heeeeeeee-heeeeeeee-hooooooo-heeeeeee!” came the piercing wail of Hairless, as Lau’s hands clenched, to keep them from instinctively covering his ears.

            “I dine with Third Uncle Li?! This is what the villagers believe?” Hairless laughed again, but for a far shorter length of time, for which Lau was thankful.

“Young Lau, it is true that I go to the Fog Plateau on occasion. It is also true that while I am there, I dine. The only reason I go, however, is to free what spirits I can from the iron grasp of Third Uncle, and the reason I dine is so that I may have food to offer the ghosts of our ancestors in order to gain their trust. Third Uncle does indeed wish to claim our village, and many others, to swell the ranks of his army. His evil sorcery draws otherwise benevolent ghosts into his servitude, and only by occasionally thinning the hoard can I and other priests keep him at bay.”

The smile fell from Hairless’s face as though his countenance were now cast of bronze. Lau found himself frozen in place, and felt his ears flush red with shame.

“But even I dare not face Third Uncle Li in battle. He has been Lord of Spirits for over three times the years I have attained since I was born and was a simple ghost for many lifetimes before that. In all the times I have been to the Fog Plateau, I have seen him but once, and a single wave of his hand was enough to change my life forever.”

The priest removed his small, tent-like yellow hat and ran a hand across his bald head.

“Or did you think that I was always called Hairless?” he smiled, melting Lau’s frozen voice.

“Sifu?”

“Yes, Lau?”

            “Is it true that when Peerless Mok vanished on his failed quest for the Mo-Lan Devils, Seventh Tooth of Golden Dragon returned to its hiding place on the Fog Plateau, in the armory of Third Uncle Li?”

            “Two things, Lau. First, fifty years is not yet long enough to say that a quest has failed. As for the spear…if we encounter Third Uncle, see if you can keep your wits about you long enough to ask him.”

            With that, Hairless hefted the framed pack onto his back and began walking, one hand absently beckoning the young man over his shoulder.

            Lau was not stupid enough to say anything more until they were several miles into the forest.

benjamin